Amalgamator



[M8858 Y I 06 H 1 L even g H. LOE VEN.

AMALGAMATOR'.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-4. 1920.

1,41 ,00 Pfltentd May 30,1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

* 25d INVENTOR anomvzrs H. LOEVEN.

AMALGAMATOR. APPLICATION FILED AUG.4. 1920.'

1,418,006, v Pate ted May30, 1922.

v 3 SHEETS-$HEET'2. U1. E.

I nwm'ron WITNZSSM 7 H y Loey'en.

W ATTORNEYS with a series of compartments through which.

i HARRY LOEVEN, QF DOUGLAS, ARIZONA.

AMALGAMATOR.

To all whom it may concern:

\ Be it known that I, HARRY LOEVEN, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Douglas, in the county of Cochise and State of Arizona,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Amalgamators, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates generally to amalgamators which are particularlyadapted for the recovery of gold from ore pulp although it is to beunderstood that I am not necessarily restricted to this particularadaptation.

The purpose of my invention is the provision of an amalgamator in whichthe ore pulp is treated'within a rotated vessel which is disposed on anincline, and is provided the pulp is successively fed to effect acomplete recovery of the gold. .f

I will describe one form of amalgamator embodying my invention and willthen point out the novel features in claims. In the accompanyingdrawings: Figure 1 is a view showing in front elevation one form ofamalgamator embodying my invention, and one form of supporting anddriving means therefor;

Figure 2 is a view showing in side elevation of the amalgamator anddriving means shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a detail perspective view of the amalgamator shown f in thepreceding views; r s

Figure 4 is a central longitudinal sectional view of Figure 8; and

Figures 5 and 6 are transverse sectional views taken on the lines 5.5,and 66, respectively, of Figure 4.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts in each of theseveral views.

Referring specifically to the drawings, and particularly to Figures 1and 2, 15 designates a base to which is fixed supporting standards 16and 16 in which is journaled the opposite ends of a shaft 17. As shownin Figure 1, the standards 16 and 16 are of different lengths and theright-hand end of Specification of Letters Patent. Patented 30, 1922.Application filed August 4, 1920. Serial 401,096. i i

nism in the present instance comprises a shaft 19 journaledin standards20 and disposed above the shaft 17 as clearly shown. The lower end ofthe shaft 19, is provided with a pulley 21 which is fixed to the shaftand a second pulley 22 which is loosely mounted on'th e shaft andconstitutes an idler. The shaft 19 also carries a driving pulley 23 towhich any suitable power may be applied for rotating the same, as willbe. understood. The shaft 19 is operatively con,

nected to the shaft 17 by means of an end- 1 less belt 24: whichis'trained about the pulleys 18 and 21. When it is desired to disconnect the drivingshaft 19 from the shaft nected to other sideplates'25i. The ends of;

the vessel are partly closed by end plates 26 and 26 which are securedto the plates 25 and 25 and'are formed with relatively large Openings 27and 27 'res,pectively. As illustrated'to advantage in Figure 3, theshaft 17 extendsv axially through the vessel and the latter is securedto the same forrotation therewith by means of intersecting cross bars 28which are secured within thevessel and are disposed 'within suitablerecesses formedfin the shaft. The cross bars 128' are secured within therecessed. portions of the shaft 17 by means of bolts 29 so that a rigidconnection is formed .between the" vessel and the shaft to cause theformer torotate with thelatter. It will be noted that the cross bars 28are disposed adjacentthe opposite ends of the vessel so that readyaccess may be had t the bolts 29 to connect or disconnect the vesselfrom the shaft.

7 To effect a. complete recovery of the gold or other precious ore fromore pulp the amalgamator is provided interiorly of the vessel with aplurality of rifiles or partitions 30 and 30. As shown in Figures 4, 5and 6, the rifiles 30 are arranged in pairs, with the rifiies of eachpair spaced apart and connecting the plates 25 of the vessel. Theriflength of the vessel thus providing a plu-' rality of compartments Kany two of which are in communication through the openin s31. v.

n the operation of the amalgamator,. the several compartments K arepartially filled with quicksilver, whereupon the belt 2 L which isnormally trained about the idle pulley 22 is shifted to the pulley 21 sothat the shaftl7 is caused to slowly rotate. By virtue of the riflles 30and 30 the quicksilver in any one of the compartments is maintainedtherein during rotation of the vessel, it being understood that thequantity. of the quicksilver in each compartment is suffi cient toperform the recovering operation without spilling and passing to thenext compartment. The ore pulp is introduced intothe vessel at its upperend through the opening 27, a suitable trough T being provided "for thispurpose. \Vith the amalgamator slowly rotating the ore pulp issuccessively fed through the several compartments and finally exitsthrough theopening 27 During the passage of the ore pulp, thequicksilver is thrown from one s de of the vessel to the other therebycau'singthe same to collect the. particles of gold, the tailings beingleft to pass through theseveral openings 31 i and outwardly out of theopening 27. Be-

cause of' the several compartments Kand the recoverlng materialcontained therein, it is obvious that the ore pulp is: successivelysubjected to a. plurality of recovering processesso that during thepassage of the same through the amalgamator a complete recoveryof thegold is effected.

4 As shown in. Figure 5, one of the walls 25 is formed with alongitudinally extending slot S which is cut in the wall at a tangentofacircle with the axis of the shaft 17 I as a center. Since theamalgamator rotates in the direction of the arrow in Figure 5,. the

' material contained. within the vessel will not be discharged throughthe slot S because the transverseinclination of the latteris such thatthe material, although entering the slot when the corresponding sideplate is inverted will be immediately returned to. the vessel when suchplate moves to a'vertica l position. When, however, it isv desired toextract the gold and quicksilver. from the vessel the rotation'of thelatter is discontinued and then turned slowly in the opposite direction"by hand. This causes the gold and '-quicksilver to be discharged throughthe slot S as the inclination of the latter is now such that thematerial enteringthe slot when the corresponding side plate is invertedgravitates from the slot and exte riorly of the vessel-when the sideplate moves to a vertical position.

Although I have herein shown and de scribed only one form of amalgamatorembodying my invention, it is to be understood that various changes andmodifications may be made herein without departing from the spirit ofthe invention and the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

1 av'ing thus described my invention, I

"1; An amalgamator comprising .11 vessel, a plurality of partitionsarranged inspa'ced relation within the vessel and each consist ing' ofpairs of'o-verlapping sections, the sections of each pair being arrangedin spaced relation whereby to define a plurality of openings, anoperating shaft extending through said vessel, and niean'srigidlyconnecting the shaft tosaid vessel, said vessel being provided with alongitudinal slot, the walls of which 'are inclined with respect to thesurface of the vessel, I I I l v Q 2. An amalgamator. comprising a"vessel, a plurality of. partitions arranged in spaced relation'withinthe vessel and having aligned openings through which the materialpasses, a shaft extendlng centrally through said the walls of'which"areinclined with respect to the surface ofthe wall in which the slot islocated.

' HARRY L'OEVEN;

